White soul system designs Essay Example for Free

White soul system designs Essay1 Analysis 1. 1 Introduction White nous System Designs is a small computing device store that designs and makes many of its own systems and products. It is situated on Queen Street in the centre of Neath. Many people swear by White Soul products and go to the store for any product they wish to purchase or repairs their computers need. Manu people in Neath use this store because the prices of products are guarantied to be the lowest you r come out out find, and the repair system, no fix no fee is very popular. At present sole(prenominal) two full cartridge holder stave members work there.The possessor Mr. Adam Williams and his only member of staff Mr.John Edwards. The store is open form 9am 5pm every weekday. On Saturdays it is open from 10am 6pm and on Sundays it is closed all day. Only having two members of staff working eight hours a day, six days a week is very difficult. With increasing physiques of clients Mr. Edwards and Mr. Will iams are under pressure to total every ones orders and files in order. Not having a computer system direction Mr. Edwards and Mr. Williams have to file all the store nodes and line of business learns manually. This manual system designates mistakes are made and customer satisfaction is lowered. This undoubtedly means a loss in meshwork.This made Mr. Williams think that like their computer systems, they should be up to date. He is currently spiriting for a bleak system and approached me to ask my opinions. Not knowing the best solution for the store off the top of my lead I decided to observer the current system and speak to the Mr. Williams and a regular customer and get their opinions of how they would like the store to change. 1. 2 Problem description The problem with White Souls current system is that it is a manual system with two members of staff. Every thing is done manually and because of this mistakes are made.All customer legers and convey orders are stored in file cabinets in alphabetical order. Lately due to the manual system many customer records have been misfiled. This is a spacious problem because if for example Mrs. Abraham went into the store to purchase a new peak, one of the members of staff would look under A for Abraham in the filing cabinet. If the customer record had been put into a nonher file by mistake a new customer record would have to be created. This then means the customer proving where they pass away when a letter and proving they identity with a passport or birth certificate.As you croup imagine customers would not be very impressed with this and profits whitethorn suffer. spud records can also be misplaced. This may lead to the staff members thinking they had ordered new stock but to have it never arrive. This is a problem when a customer has specifically requested that item of stock and has to find out that it ordain not be delivered till the conterminous stock delivery. This again causes customer dissa tisfaction and in the long run a loss of prophets. Sometimes, because stock turn of eventss have been mixed up because of bad filing the store gets stock that it didnt mean or want to order.This is a cut straight out of their prophets, as they have to pay for it because they ordered it, even if they didnt mean to. 1. 3 Objectives afterwards a few brief chats with Mr. Williams, he informed to me that the whole objective of this new system was to keep up with the times. He then went onto explain how the current system worked. Adding a Customer If a customer wants to become a member of the store and get special offers and discounts on certain products an occupation form must be filled in. To become a member more then one form of identification is required and to confirm their utter a letter or a bank statement is needed.After the customer identity and address is confirmed an application form will be filled out and filed. entropy requirements Name Sur soma and fore call up of the customer report Address the customer is occupying Postcode Area code of the address exit of birth Date the customer was born Phone number Number on which we can converge the customer Credit Card Number ID issued by the bank uncommonly given to the customer Documents utilise Customer application form (see appendix A1) Problems Some customers have poor handwriting or just handwriting that the staff members struggle to read.This may lead to miss filing or even a mistake made with the customer details. Also a lot of the time customers are not carrying any item that may prove their identity or are not carrying a letter to prove their address. No members may be added to the files with out first proving their identity and address so they have to return home to get these items before they can become members of the store. Searching for and viewing a customer For a special in store discount customers are offered a chance to become a member of the store. Their records are stored in alph abetical order in a filing cabinet.If a customer wants to use this discount their file must be found. One of the members of staff will look in the filing cabinet for the customers file. All customers records are stored in alphabetical order in our files. To look for that customer we get their inhabit name and search the file that corresponds with the first letter of their second name E. g. Charles Powel We would look in the P file Michael Roberts We would look in the R file Bethan Langdon We would look in the L file When the second name has been found we resort to utilise their first names, we do this because in some cases there will be more than one Powel, Roberts or Langdon.If there are two identical names in the files we have to look at each and match the address, this is the last resort. Data requirements Customer name The customers surname and forename Customer address The customers home address Problems A manual filing system is used. All customer records are kept in a filin g cabinet that both members of staff have access to. They are stored in alphabetical order using the customers surname. If a customer record was filed under a wrong name it would appear lost or it may seem to the staff that that customer has never completed an application form.This means a new form would have to be filled in and the customers identity would have to be proven again. This lowers customer satisfaction and creates problems for the two members of staff. Amending a customers details If a customer is to move house or to change their telephone number their membership must be updated. Once their file has been searched for and found the new customer information can be added. Data requirements Name Surname and forename of the customer Address Address the customer is occupying Postcode Area code of the address Date of birth Date the customer was born.Phone number Number on which we can contact the customer Credit Card Number ID issued by the bank uniquely given to the customer Documents used Customer application form (see appendix A1) Problems Tippex is used to erase the current details before the new details are added. This makes the form look messy and it may become hard to read. And when written oer the tippex or writing may smudge and make the form look a complete mess. Again a lot of the time customers are not carrying any item that may prove their identity or are not carrying a letter to prove their address.No members may be added to the files with out first proving their identity and address so they have to return home to get these items before they can become members of the store. Deleting a customer If a customer wishes to no longer be a member with our store their file may be deleted. Again identity is required for this transaction to take place. After the customer is searched for and found it may be discarded. Data requirements Customer name The customers surname and forename Customer address The customers home address Problems Once a customer has been deleted from our files we have no contact with them.This means any warrantees are void and the customer cannot claim money back or an exchange of item once they have been deleted from our files. And once again if a customer wants his or her file to be discarded they have to prove their identity. Many customers may not carry identity around with them but this is required. Identity is required to ensure that no files are wrongly discarded. Adding a Stock it em When a new stock item is purchased and arrives at the store, immediately a record of the stock is made. Data requirements Number Unique stock number given to that item only Title Name or title of the stock item.Description Description of what the stock item is impairment Price of the stock Status Status of the stock Available Unavailable Discontinued Documents used Stock data form (see appendix A1) Problems When a stock data form is filled in it can some times become a mess due to ad handwriting or coffee stains after a long days work. This may make it hard to read. Searching for a stock name If a customer wants to purchase a certain item of stock the stock record must be found from the stock file to see if that stock item is available and to make sure that it is the correct item the customer wished to purchase.Stock number the unique number given to this item Problems Stock items are filed using their stock number, not their name. This is a problem because there is no name order so each record must be checked, and refilled if it is the wrong item. Searching for a stock ID If the customer has gone through the trouble of decision the stock ID or the members of staff know the stock ID from the name a stock ID search can be made. This is much less trouble as the stock items are filed by their stock numbers and each stock number is unique so there can be no matches. Data Requirements * Stock Number A unique stock number given by a member of staff.Problems Not every one knows the stock number so a na me search may have to be made. Also if a stock record is out of place then it may be difficult to find it. Amending stock status It is important that each day the stock is checked. Once the stock has been checked the stock records must be modified to show weather the stock is Available, Unavailable or Discontinued. Data requirements Stock Name The name of the stock item Stock Number The unique stock number given to this item Problems Tippex is used to erase the current details before the new details are added. This makes the form look messy and it may become hard to read.And when written over the tippex or writing may smudge and make the form look a complete mess. Amending stock details Once an item of stock has been entered into a file it is sometimes necessary to edit the properties of the stock, for example if a sale occurred the stock price would be altered or if a mistake was made when first entering the stock it may be amended. Data requirements Number Unique stock number give n to that item only Title Name or title of the stock item Description Description of what the stock item is Price Price of the stock Status Status of the stock Available Unavailable Discontinued.

About Type 2 Diabetes Essay Example for Free

About Type 2 Diabetes EssayAround 2.6 jillion people in the UK confound been diagnosed with diabetes. About nine in 10 of these people have typewrite 2 diabetes. It usually affects people over the ripen of 40, save can stupefy at any age. People of African-Caribbean or South Asian origin ar more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. It usually affects them earlier in life, from about the age of 25. Type 2 diabetes is becoming more common, particularly in children. Type 2 diabetes develops when your automobile trunk cant drive enough insulin or if your trunk doesnt respond to insulin as it should. Insulin regulates the level of glucose in your kind. Glucose is a simple form of lollipop found in foods and sugary soak ups. Its absorbed by your body as a natural part of digestion and is carried around your body in your blood. When glucose reaches your body tissues, much(prenominal) as muscle cells, its absorbed and converted into energy. Insulin is secreted into your blo od by your pancreas, which is a gland located behind your stomach.If your cells dont respond properly to insulin, it can own glucose to build up in your blood. This is called insulin resistance. If this happens, your pancreas necessitates to produce more and more insulin to overcome the resistance and control your blood glucose levels. Types of diabetes There are two main(prenominal) types of diabetes type 1 and type 2. There are about two million people in the UK who have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the common form, modify nine out of every 10 people with diabetes. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes Many people with type 2 diabetes have no obvious symptoms. Its a great deal discovered during a routine medical check-up with your GP.If you do have symptoms of type 2 diabetes, you may pass more pee than usualSee more My Writing Process Essaybe constantly thirstyhave unexplained weight lossbe extremely tiredhave hazy visionhave itchy skin around your genitals or get regular infections , such as thrushnotice that wounds such as cuts bring around slowlyIf you have any of these symptoms, see your GP. nitially, some people find they dont have any symptoms. So if you think you may be at risk of type 2 diabetes, speak to your GP about having a screening blood establish.Complications of type 2 diabetes If type 2 diabetes isnt diagnosed or controlled properly, you can develop blood glucose levels that are either too high (hyperglycaemia) or too low (hypoglycaemia). Hyperglycaemia If type 2 diabetes is peaked(predicate) controlled or you get an infection, glucose can build up in your blood and rise to high levels. This can cause you tobe thirstypass urine excessivelyhave blurred visionfeel tiredVery rarely, if you become dehydrated and your blood glucose rises to very high levels, you can develop a condition called hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state. This can cause you to become drowsy and potentially unconscious. Hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state is a medical emergency and needs to be treated in hospital. In the prospicient-term, uncontrolled high blood glucose levels can increase your risk ofkidney failureblindnessnerve damageheart diseasestrokeHypoglycaemiaSometimes, if your medication is too strong or you miss a meal, your blood glucose levels can become too low (hypoglycaemia). This only happens if youre taking certain medicines such as gliclazide (or others of the same type), repaglinide or insulin (of any type). If your blood glucose is low, you may go pale, feel sweaty and become confused. If you develop hypoglycaemia, its important to eat or drink something containing glucose, for example fruit juice or some sweets.Causes of type 2 diabetesThere are several risk factors that make you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, including if youare overweight or obese in particular, if youre an apple shape with lots of fat around your abdomen (tummy)have a close family member with the conditionare of African-Caribbean or South-Asian originare over 40 your risk increases with agehave high blood pressure or have had a heart attack or strokedont exercise regularlyhave severe psychical health problemsare a woman and have polycystic ovary syndrome and are overweightare a woman and have had diabetes that developed during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) If you have a condition such as impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glycaemia, this means the level of glucose in your blood is naturally higher than conventionalism and youre more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.Diagnosis of type 2 diabetesYour GP lead ask about your symptoms and examine you. He or she may also ask about your medical history. You may need to have some of the hobby tests.Urine test. You will need to hold back a sample to be tested for glucose. Fasting blood glucose test. You will have a sample of blood interpreted from your arm to test for glucose. You will need to fast overnight before having this test. You may have this with a glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C) test. HbA1C is a protein that is produced when you have high blood glucose levels over a long period of time. Glucose tolerance test. This may be needed if your fasting blood glucose test is borderline. It measures how your blood glucose level changes over time after you have a sugary drink. You will need to fast overnight before having this test.Treatment of type 2 diabetesThere isnt a cure for type 2 diabetes but it can be controlled. Some people can control their condition with life style changes alone. Others need to take medicines or use insulin scudions. Self-help By making the following lifestyle changes, you can help control your blood glucose levels. Eat a healthy balanced diet with regular meals, three times a day. take on carbohydrates, such as pasta or potatoes in each meal.Aim to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise over a workweek in bouts of 10 minutes or more. This will help you to stay a healthy weight and control your blood glucose levels. O nly drink alcohol in moderation and stick within the recommended limits. If you smoke, give up. Smoking is unhealthy for everyone, but its especially important to stop if you have diabetes because you already have an change magnitude risk of developing circulatory problems and cardiovasculardisease.Oral medicinesIf lifestyle changes alone dont keep your blood glucose levels under control, you may be visit medicines. Some examples are listed below. Metformin works by reducing the amount of glucose that gets released into your bloodstream from your liver. It also improves the way glucose is used by your muscles. Gliclazide, glipizide, glimepiride and tolbutamide help your pancreas to produce more insulin. Repaglinide and nateglinide also help your pancreas to produce more insulin, but work more quickly and last for a shorter time. Acarbose lowers your blood glucose by slowing downhearted the rate at which some carbohydrates are absorbed by your body. Pioglitazone reduces your body s resistance to insulin.Sitagliptin, saxagliptin and vildagliptin help your body to produce more insulin at mealtimes. These medicines are usually taken between one and three times a day.InjectionsYou may be prescribed other medicines such as exenatide or liraglutide. These medicines are given by injection and work by helping your body to make more insulin when its needed. They can also reduce your appetite and help you lose weight. If lifestyle changes and medicines cant keep your blood glucose levels under control, you may need to have insulin injections as well as, or instead of, tablets. You will usually inject yourself with insulin once or twice a day, using either a small needle or a pen-type syringe with replaceable cartridges. There are several different types of insulin that work at different rates and for different lengths of time.Ask your GP for advice on which type is best for you. If you have insulin injections, you will need to monitor your blood glucose levels with a home test kit. This involves taking a pinprick of blood from your finger and putting a drop on a examen strip. A meter will read the result automatically. Your GP or diabetes specialist nurse will show you how to monitor your blood glucose levels and tell you how oft you need to check it. Monitoring your blood glucose level You may also need to have your levels of HbA1C tested at least twice a year. The test is done by taking blood from a vein in your arm or sometimes a drop of blood from a fingerprick. Its used to see how well youre controlling your blood sugarlevels.

Attitudes towards Air Pollution among University Students

Attitudes towards vent contamination among University StudentsResearch ProposalResearch specific topicThe topic of the memorize is Attitudes towards argumentation Pollution among University Students.Rationale of the studyRamanathan Feng (2009) claim that Every part of the world is connected with every other part through fast atmospheric transport. This has do us think that the negative compositors case of channelize pollution exit not only happen in one region, but also watch place in other areas. Air pollution causes many side effects on health, surround and economy. According to the WHO, in 2012, 7 million large number died as a result of air pollution. to a greater extentover, the WHO assessment found the majority of air pollution deaths were linked with cardiovascular disease, heart disease, stock, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. We feel that not so many people concern of this reduce. Consequently, we decide to conduct a research on the topic of Attitudes toward Air Pollution among University Students as we believe that university students may stimulate analyse some subjects regarding to this problem. In addition, the major reason that encouraged us to conduct a research on this topic is to discover how much university students know ab bulge air pollution. Another factor is to explore the effective methods that university students can think of to prevent themselves from the negative effects of air pollution. On top of that, providing the best solution to function the entire problem by university students is also another main purpose of doing this research. The research purpose get out help to encourage university students to get composite much in this problem and spread the information to the public so that more people will join in pointing this issue.Research aimThe aim of the study is to know about attitudes towards air pollution among universitystudents.Research objectives and research questionsResearch object ivesTo find out the university students perception towards air pollutionTo determine the ways that students can prevent themselves from the negative effects of air pollutionTo ascertain the solutions that university students can think of to address this issueResearch questionsHow do university students think about air pollution?How can university students prevent themselves from the negative effects of air pollution?What are the solutions to this issue raised by university students?Literature reviewOperational definitionAir pollution was defined as the presence in the outdoor and /or indoor(a) atmosphere of one or more contaminants or combinations thereof in such questions and of such duration as maybe or may persist to be injurious to human, plant or animal life, or property or which unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property or the conduct of business (Wark, K., et al 1998). Attitude is a feeling or opinion about something or someone.Theoretical fr ameworkAmong the or so pressing of at presents environmental issues is the pollution of the air we breathe, that the world is concerning about. There are many countries that are affected and some are being put on. More than 10 million people in eight different countries are atserious risk for health because they live in the polluted places (West, 2014). Therefore, it has run a problem which many researchers train been studying and conclusion the causes as well as the solution. According to the environmental protection Agency, there are a great number of types of air pollution such as pollution from industries, vehicles, stationary items etc. This shows that air pollution is really a concerning issue that we cannot ignore, and more research about the solution is needed to enhance the earning of it. Some people deport already known about air pollution. Groot (1967) claims that In the most recently completed study however, a cross-sample of the whole United States revealed that 48% of all people thought air pollution to be at least(prenominal) a somewhat serious problem for their area of residence.More importantly, some researchers tend to conduct a research on the attitude of students towards air pollution, which is an seductive factor. The study on students attitudes has been carrying out to explore the factors which provoke to find out the solution because they may have studied about environment. Research has shown that university students who have studied courses specializing in the environment maintain more pro-environmental attitudes than other students (Meinhold Malkus 2005). It was also found that demographic factors such as gender and forms of education may have some influence on ones attitude and pro-environmental behaviors (Fernandez Rodriguze, Carrasquier, 2007 Tuncer, Ertepinar, Tekaya, Carrasquier, 2007). After realizing about this, researchers can go further to identify how university students think about air pollution. Some university students have expressed their concern about air pollution. Al. Rabaani Al-Mekhlafi (2009) claim that Air pollution is a problem which has recently become a cause of concern, due to accelerated economic development, an increase in transportation this may account for students increasing concern with the problem. We have tried to find the other researchers finding about the perceptions of university students toward air pollution, the methods to prevent themselves from the negative effects of air pollution and their solutions to solve the problem, but we can find only their perceptions.Conceptual frameworkThe study will focus on only attitudes of university students towards air pollution since we still believe that university students perception will lead other university students and people to get involved more in this problem. Meinhold Malkus (2005) claim that university pupils doing the course related to environment have expressed more reactions toward air pollution than those who do not. Demographic factors such as gender and years of education may make ones reaction and pro-environmental behaviors vary (Fernandez Rodriguze, Carrasquier, 2007 Tuncer, Ertepinar, Tekaya, Carrasquier, 2007).The accelerated economic development and the rise of transportation have made air pollution become and increase universitys concern (Al. Rabaani Al-Mekhlafi, 2009).The research instrumentWithin this research, questionnaire will be used as the diaphysis for data collection. The reason we finally select questionnaire is that it is easier than conducting interview with respondents they just read the questions, interpret what is expected then write down their answers. Inaddition, students at IFL who will be respondents are busy with their study, so they do not have enough time to be interviewed.The questionnaire consists of three sections. The first section is about the respondents sex, age, statue, the animation condition, and how they travel. The second section focus on w hether they concern about air pollution or not. The last section is about their attitude to air pollution, how it occurs and how to solve the problem.We predict that the questionnaire will take time around 10 minutes because we think that they will have enough time to think deeply to understand the questions. Some students will probably just answer the questions while others may broaden their information.However, we might face some problems some of them might just beat up the answers and some just keeping blank on the answer spaces because they may think that it is a waste of time. Therefore, if that case happens, we will have to look for others to micturate our 200 respondents. We will provide the questionnaires for the other class, but this time we will increase 5 minutes more for them to answer the questions.RespondentsThe study population of this research is the undergraduate students from year two to year three at the Department of English, Institute of Foreign Languages, Roy al University of Phnom Penh. The reason is that the courses at IFL provide topics about environment and there are many programs that are related to the saving environment like clean up day etc. The total sample sizing is 100 students, who are 50 students in year two and 50 students in year three and studying in the morning shift.Data-collecting proceduresThe questionnaires will be carried out directly at Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL). Participants will be provided the questions before the break time in their classrooms. For thedata collecting process, we will differentiate our members into two different groups and each group has two members. Group one will be responsible for year two students and group two for year three students. Each member in the group will be waiting for respondents to finish their answers and help students to understand the questions. However, before we provide questionnaire, we will have to ask for permission from the lecturers first.Data-processing pr oceduresAfter collecting the data, SPSS and C++ program, which are programs for statistic tasks, will be used to analyze data.ReferencesAl-Rabaani, A. Al-Mekhlafi, S. (2009). Attitudes of Sultan Qaboos University StudentsTowards Some Environmental Problems And Their Willingness To Take reach ToReduce Them. Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 9-15 Retrieved from http//thescipub.com/pdf/ 10.3844/jssp.2009.9.15 on June 14, 2014Groot, I.(1967). Trends in Public Attitudes Towards Air Pollution, Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, 1710, 679-681. Retrieved from http//www.tandfonline. com/doi/pdf /10.1080/00022470.10469056 on June 14, 2014Briggs, H. (2014, environ 25). Air Pollution Linked to Seven Million People Globally. BBC News Health Retrieved from http//www.bbc.com/news/health-26730178 on April 25, 2014World Bank (2002). The Health and Economic Impacts of Air Pollution. How serious is the impact of air pollution on public health? Retrieved from http//emb.gov.ph/eeid/airpol .htm on May 10, 2014West, L. (2014). The Top 10 Worst Polluted Places on Earth. About.com Environmental Issues Retrieved from http//environment.about.com/od/pollution/a/top_10_polluted.htm on May 15, 2014Ramanathan, V. Feng, Y.(2009). Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gases And Climate ChangeGlobal and Regional Perspectives. Atmospheric Environment, 43, 37-50 Retrieved fromwww.ramanathan.ucsd.edu/files/pr166.pdf on April 1, 20141

UK Supermarkets Competitive Strategy

UK Super markets war-ridden St pointgyEvaluate how UK supermarkets use market segmentation, targeting and positioning to gain a agonistical advantage.1. IntroductionThis paper sets kayoed to apply basic segmentation, targeting and positioning concepts to the UK supermarket sector and provide evaluate the extent to which the use of these concepts is leading to the achievement of sustainable private-enterprise(a) advantage with any or all of the supermarkets selected.The focus will be on the three major supermarkets Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury.The paper will begin with an explanation of the concepts and will move on to a description of the strategic positioning of each of the major supermarkets in the current marketplace. Chapter 4 will evaluate the relative succeeder of the three companies chosen and assess the extent to which their procession to segmentation and positioning has enabled them to achieve some measure of war-ridden advantage.Sources of information ar recognised t rade textbookbooks, articles from learned journals, newfoundspapers and periodicals and social club annual reports and websites.2. Definitions, explanations and questions2.1 Definitions of the basic concepts interlocutor defines segmentation as the identification of individuals or organisations with similar characteristics which have significant implications for the determination of market schema. 1 It is a process which results in the clustering of people with supposedly similar buying behaviour, such that marketing mixes can be designed to meet the specific get and wants of peoplewithin the cluster.Once the market has been described in terms of an amalgam of homogeneous segments, companies need to decide which, if any, segments to target. Should they adopt a niche approach (like Morgan in the automobile sector), where only wiz type of vehicle is produced for a specific segment of the market, or should they adopt a mass market reporting approach (like Ford or GM), where v ehicles argon produced to attract to the self-colored range of different requirements across the different segments?Positioning describes the manner by which a company differentiates its products/ portions from the competition within each target market. Sometimes these differences be very fine. Mercedes and BMW both have, for example, prime(prenominal) images and are valued high relative to most competitors exactly Mercedes has historically had a with child(p)er appeal among older, to a heavy(p)er extent conservative drivers and BMW has appealed more to those who see themselves as dynamic and thrusting.22.2 Segmentation rationaleAt one take the segmentation process enables companies to tailor their products or services to meet the of necessity of the market better than competitors and to choose segments which are aligned with their capabilities as a company. They are in addition able to select segments which are large enough for them to supply efficiently. Segmentation th erefore facilitates differentiation, which should improve competitiveness, which should, in turn, lead to higher profitability.Barwise and Meehan draw direction to a possible fallacy in this form of reasoning. They cite the example of the different positioning strategies of One2One (now T-Mobile) and Orange in the battle for market share in the UK mobile telecoms market.3 Orange offered to provide a reliable, high quality all overall node experience with good foster for money(they) targeted the whole market, not merely a specific segment. 4 One2One, on the other hand, adopted a strongly focused, segmentation strategy. it positioned itself as a low-cost, friendly ne iirk suitable for people wanting to chat with friendspriority on big citiesfree off-peak local calls. 5By far the most successful company (Orange) was the one which offered generic category benefits to the whole market, not a highly segmented approach. This is germane(predicate) to an understanding of success in th e supermarket sector and will be referred to later.2.3 Different forms of segmentationMarketing text books describe three basic types of segmentationBehaviouralPsychographicProfileThe behavioural category covers benefits sought, purchasing behaviour and product usage and perceptions and beliefs.The psychographic category covers lifestyles and personality breakdownsThe across-the-board profile category covers age, gender, stage in the life cycle, social class, geographic location, income.6Often a combination of variables across the categories is used. Research Services Ltd, a UK marketing research company, has highly-developed SAGACITY, a segmentation scheme based on a combination of life cycle, occupation and income. They form 12 distinct consumer groupings with differing aspirations and behaviour patterns.7A.C. Nielsen, the international marketing research agency, uses a combination of all segmentation categories to describe types of shoppers in supermarkets. They break the market down into 6 distinct groupingsHabit-bound Diehards homey and ContentedsMercenariesStruggling IdealistsFrenzied CopersSelf-indulgents 8The purpose of this breakdown appears to be tomatch product and service delivery to the needs and wants of the different segmentsto identify the potentially most paying segmentsOne interesting point which emerged from this course was that segments such as the Struggling Idealists were, at the time the TV programme was made in 2002, not of great interest to supermarkets as they did not fade a lot and insisted on organic and eco-friendly products, which did not seem to be of interest to the mass market . In just 4 years the market has changed dramatically and supermarkets are allocating significantly more shelf-space to such products and aim to thread shoppers with grand values.9 The segment has grown in terms of its potential value to supermarkets.This highlights the need for a creative and dynamic approach to segmentation. Orange now uses data-m ining software within a sophisticated CRM (Customer human relationship Management) system to monitor segments on a day-to-day basis and to adjust its service approach accordingly. It will, for example adjust its pricing and service delivery to the value of the customer. Premium customers are immediately recognised by call-centres and accorded priority in the queuing system.10 This keen focus on the most profitable customers contrasts with most supermarkets, which offer crash tills for customers who have not bought much, allowing them to move more quickly through the checkouts than the customers with laden trolleys. This will again be referred to in later sections.2.4 Competitive AdvantageFinally, in this chapter, a few clarifying words on the meaning, and sources, of competitive advantage, with specific reference to the supermarket sector.Grant defines the concept as followsWhen two firmlys competeone firm possesses a competitive advantage over the other when it earns a higher ra te of profit or has the potential to earn a higher rate of profit.11It is important to note the main point here competitive advantage relates to profitability or potential profitability, not to revenue, market share or more qualitative measures such as image or reputation. This is the definition which will be applied in this paper.The international consulting company, Accenture, published last year a paper called Consuming Passions, a study of the six leading global retailers. One of its aims was to identify the common factors which led to their high performance in the market over a long period of time.12 It identified six core competencies which underpin high performance in the retail sectorstrategic aimcustomer focusinnovation and commercialisationoperational excellencealliances and collaborationtalent management13In the introduction to the paper the authors stateThe name of the winning secret plan is differentiation that is meaningful and relevant to the customer base. But this isnt just a matter of offering new products and services those products and services must also be highly distinctive, relevant to target customers and in the right stores, with the right damage and promotion combination and at the right time.14These ideas will be developed further in the next chapter when examining the individual supermarket companies.3. The Major Supermarkets3.1 OverviewThe UK supermarket sector is highly concentrated. The five leading companies together have 73% of the total market. Only France has a more concentrated market, with 78% being taken up by the top five.15 Until the mid 1990s Sainsburys was market leader but the number one position was taken by Tesco in 1996 and they have since grown market share to 30% plus of the UK market. Sainsbury is now in third position privy Asda, which was bought by Walmart in 1999. The paragraphs below briefly describe the current financial situation of each company, their strategic marketing focus and the extent to which each appears to be applying segmentation approaches. Most of the information comes from the respective company websites.3.2 Tesco16In 2005 Tesco achieved sales turnover of 37.1 bill. and profits of 2,029m. Profits and sales have grown consistently over the past 5 years. Profits from 2004-5 grew by 20.5% on sales harvest-time of 12.4%. The company employs 360,000 people worldwide and has 2,000 stores. 111 new stores are planned for 2006.Its long-term strategy is based on four partsgrowth in the core UK businessexpansion from international growthto be as strong in non-food as in foodto follow customers into new retailing servicesTesco appears to take customer focus and staff focus very seriously. An ongoing figure entitled Every Little Helps is in process which has used question times with more than 9,000 customers to help them to understand how they can best improve service to customers on a day-to-day basis. This has resulted in parking bays for trolleys (to stop annoying customer s), extra staff on checkouts (to reduce waiting times) and fresh food counters and self-service cafes for customers in a hurry.Using their Club loosen as the data source Tesco send out mailings every quarter to 11million customers. The mailings have an annualised value to customers (if they use them) of 250m. and can be adjusted to take account of individual customer buying behaviour.Tesco has a range of different stores in line with its belief thatCustomers have different needs at different times so we tailor our stores as well as our products. From Value to Finest and from get to Extra, theres something for everyone at Tesco.17Value products are low- setd basics for customers on a tight budget. Finest are products with the finest ingredients for customers who appreciate fine food and are prepared to pay higher tolls for higher quality. Express are littler stores in local communities for people who would find it difficult to get to a large Tesco store. Metro are stores in town an d metropolis centres for the devisal of customers who prefer to shop in town rather than in the Superstores out of town. These Superstores are particularly for one-stop shoppers who can find everything they need for their weekly shop18. They carry not only a wide range of food lines but also the most popular Tesco non-food lines. Tesco Extra is a major new development focusing on non-.food lines, but with extensive food and convenience lines. As only 20% of the UK population has access to such stores Tesco intends opening 20 more this year.For all health-conscious customers (viz. the struggling idealists in 2.3) Tesco has introduced better labelling, diet guides and Free-from and organic ranges.For bell-conscious customers who also like good service they have introduced the Step Change programme and Everyday Low Pricing.For the growing number of customers who prefer to order from home and get home deliveries Tesco provides an on-line service which now supplies 150,000 customers/da y.3.3 AsdaIt is difficult to vex separate financial results for Asda Wal-Mart as the figures are hidden away in Wal-Marts consolidated accounts. The corporate website in the UK is also not nearly as transparent close strategic and marketing issues as Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Morrisons. Figures therefore, for the most part, need to be gleaned from outside sources or estimated. Figures quoted below are taken, for the most part, from Datamonitor.19In 2005 Asda had a sales turnover of 16.25bill., a growth of 19.8% over the previous year. Since Wal-Mart bought the company in 1999 market share in the UK has risen from 13% to 16%, pose them in second position ahead of Sainsbury.The company has 265 Asda stores, 19 superstores, 1 pilot store in General Merchandising and 6 trial George stores specialising in fashion clothing. The company plans to open 10-12 new stores each year.60% of Asdas sales are currently in grocery items, although it intends to build on the growth of non-food p roducts in store, which may well change this balance. Asda sells six own-brand labels Asda Smartprice, Asda, Good for You, Asda Organic, Asda Extra Special and More for Kids.20Asda management appears to plan to grow in the future via more stores, a focus on clothing (via its George fashion range Asda has now overtaken Marks and Spencer as the UKs largest clothing retailer21)and non-food, growth from specialist outlets within the stores opticians, jewellers and photographic and possibly a greater push into the childrens market.Their main marketing thrust in-line with the Wal-Mart reputation is to be seen by the mass market as the price leader. They in fact claimed to be the official lowest price supermarket in the UK but this was based on a survey of just 33 lines and, by and by complaints from Tesco, the claim had to be lifted.22 Since Wal-Marts takeover of Asda there has been an ongoing price war with Sainsbury and Tesco, which has raised Asdas profile as a low-price store. Apar t from price the main differentiators are the twin focuses on non-food and clothing and the particular focus on the kids market. Like Tesco and Sainsburys they are also trying to attract higher income and green customers with its Good for You, Organics and Asda Extra Special brands. They also have an on-line ordering and delivery service.Asda undoubtedly has an image problem because of its association with Wal-Mart.Asda has been criticised for misleading advertising, using suppliers who are known to have illegal employment practices, ignoring planning regulations and destroying greenbelt land, lack of serious environmental policy and blatant greenwash. With its strategy of consolidation, copied directly from Wal-Mart, Asda pursues an competitive takeover policy of small towns, wiping out local competition and local jobs. False claims by the company about value and convenience, have been challenged, along with the growth of every opportunity to push impulse buying.23No specific evi dence was found, but negative information, such as the above about Wal-Mart, abounds on the internet and it is probable that this will make it more difficult for Asda to position itself such that it attracts the more educated, aware customers.3.4 J SainsburySainsbury achieved total sales in 2005 of 16.36bill. and profits after tax of 65m. This compared with fairly lower sales in the previous year and a significantly larger profit then of 404m.24 Sainsbury appears to be struggling. It has suffered from severe price competition from Asda and Tesco and also failed to implement effectively a new logistics system, which resulted in severe out-of-stock problems which alienated customers.The company has 727 stores in all, 465 of which are supermarkets and 262 are the smaller convenience stores. It employs 153,000 people.Sainsbury is currently undergoing a change programme entitled Making Sainsburys Great Again 2007/825. Some elements of this programme are very relevant to its positioning in the market. In line with Barwise and Meehans thinking on generic category benefits26 Sainsbury wish to restore the universal appeal of the brand. This comprises four elementsbe all inclusive (appeal to all segments of the market)have a clear product hierarchy GOOD, BETTER, BEST (not assuming that certain segments go for a defined quality of product but that all customers chop and change).invest in price and quality (400m in 2006)scale to succeed (ensure that there is sufficient overall demand in the chosen products/markets to get costs down to a manageable level)This all translates into a customer proposition which their annual report describes as followsgreat food/fair pricesmarket leaders in quality and innovationcomplementary non-foodstraightforward formats supermarkets, convenience and Sainsburys to You(on-line)bankSainsbury advertising focuses on two messageswe have reduced price on 4000 linesTry something new todayThe former has clear universal appeal and aims to enable Sa insbury to compete on price with Asda and Tesco. The former appears to be focused more on higher income categories (the Self-indulgents and Comfortable and Contenteds mentioned in 2.3.4. Conclusions and final thoughtsIn a 1994 article on segmentation in the retail sector the following statement is madeany strategic option depends on clear positioning against competitors and customer groups (and the ) approach of integrating competitive analysis with market segmentation is a necessary first step to achieving a better understanding of the retailing environment and formulating effective marketing strategiessupermarket retailers must attract customers from different and often incompatible market segments. 27This statement still appears to have validity to-day. All three supermarkets mentioned in this paper wish to attract customers from the higher income AB socio-economic category by offering them better service, high quality and tasty foods, organic foods and a clean and welcoming atmo sphere. These customers will spend more and will buy products which offer the retailer higher margins. At the same time all supermarkets seek to position themselves as low price operators, thus appealing to lower income groups and those across all income groups who seek bargains (the mercenaries in 2.3). It is the observation of the writer that Tesco is clearly the most successful at positioning itself to appeal to both ends of the spectrum.According to data in Morrisons 2005 annual report about 25% of Sainsburys customers fall into the AB category whereas with Tesco it is only 20% and with Asda it is about 17%. Asda on the other hand (from the same annual report) rates very highly in terms of customer perception of value for money, Tesco is slightly lower and Sainsbury is even below Waitrose, a store which is traditionally associated with high prices.All realise that location is vital and that even to-days motorised customer will not put herself about too much to go to stores too f ar away. Hence all are moving towards the development of smaller stores to attract local communities. All use brand loyalty cards, but Tesco appears to be the most successful at using data on the card to enable it to adjust offerings to individual customer requirements.There are great similarities between the companies and their marketing approaches. Each follows the other very closely. What appears to make Tesco stand out is not so much a more sophisticated approach to segmentation and differentiation, but one of the key competencies in the Accenture report, Consuming Passions28 its ability to liquify a clear strategy with operational excellence. At the time of writing (April 25, 2006) Tesco has just released performance figures for the past 12 months. They indicate a 13.2% growth in sales and a 16.7% growth in before tax profit. 29BIBLIOGRAPHYBooksBarwise B. and Meehan S (2004), Simply Better, Harvard Business School PressGrant RM (1997), Contemporary Strategic Analysis, Blackw ell contact D. (2004), Principles and Practice of Marketing, McGraw HillKotler P. and Armstrong G.(2004), Principles of Marketing, Prentice HallJournals/ReportsAnonymous author of Asda Group Limited in Datamonitor, June, 2005Anonymous author of Organics UK in Mintel Report, November 2005Mann S., Smith J. and Trouv O. (2006), Consuming Passions, Accenture patience report in Outlook 2005Segal M. and Giacobbe R. (1994), Market Segmentation and CompetitiveAnalysis for Supermarket Retailing, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol.22, No.1, pp.38-48Internet sourceswww.asda.co.ukwww.corporatewatch.org.ukwww.guardian.co.ukwww.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/textbooks/jobberwww.morrisons.co.ukwww.npr.orgwww.sainsbury.co.ukwww.tesco.comFootnotes1 Jobber (2004), Principles and Practice of Marketing, p. 2102 From A to B, Channel 4, 19983 Barwise and Meehan (2004), Simply Better, p. 44 Barwise and Meehan, pp. 3-45 Barwise and Meehan, pp. 4-56 Jobber, p. 2147 Jobber, p. 2248 Shop till you drop, Channel 4, 20029 Organics UK, November, 2005, Mintel Report10 Orange a Fruitful Passion, supplementary case on the Jobber website, www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/textbooks/jobber11 Grant R.M., Contemporary Strategic Analysis, p.15112 Mann S., Smith J. and Trouv O., Consuming Passions, Accenture, 200513 Mann et al, p. 914 Mann et al, p.315 Mann et al, p.716 www.tesco.com17 www.tesco.com18 www.tesco.,com19 Asda Group Limited, Datamonitor, June, 200520 Asda Wal-Mart a Corporate Profile, www.corporatewatch.org.uk, Nov. 200421 www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,1288594,00.html22 Th e Marketplace Report Wal-Marts UK Strategy, www.npr.org, August 17, 200523 www.corporatewatch.org.uk, November 200424 www.sainsbury.co.uk Annual Report 200525www.sainsbury.co.uk Annual Report 200526 Barwise and Meehan(2004), Simply Better27 Segal M and Giacobbe R (1994), Market Segmentation and Competitive Analysis for Supermarket Retailing, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, p. 4528 M ann, Smith and Trouv, Consuming Passions29 tesco.com, press release on April 25, 2006

Learning Perspectives in Education

discipline Perspectives in EducationLearning Perspectives, Perceptions and PerformanceLearning is a vague, important term. When mentioned, common associations are often relegated to the association with young school electric razorren and non so often as one of the most intriguing and inquired upon aspects of psychology. antecedent to go on elucidation, as if oft the case, the examination of learning merits a definition. though it seems to be a word of self-evident meaning, because it is hard to study directly, some further refining must be utilized. This self-evident acquisition of knowledge can only be measured with carriageal outcomes and should be observation every last(predicate)y able to be wondrous from reflexive or instinctive responses. A behavioral outcome might consist of a high test score, a rat that quickly presses a lever, an employee that receives bonus compensation or any other number of commonly conceived examples.In discussing the nature of learning, there are p erhaps two or three popularly dominant perspectives which are essential to understand in the formation of any reasonably comprehensive review. These perspectives include the behaviorist, the social learning, and the cognitive schools. Though it becomes manifest that these three influences are not without critique and that, even within each, there exists what might be designate factions, their fundamental contri preciselyions cannot be missd.BehaviorismThe first of these perspectives is the behaviorist. In this scheme, there are two broad branches classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. In classical conditioning, learning leads by the pairing of the input with a coveted response of the subject. Experimentally, this is an example of Pavlovs famous dogs and the learning that results is a consequence of the learned associative relationship and is not contingent upon any action by the subject. The alternative to this method is instrumental conditioning in which the s ubject gets to choose. By this, it is meant that the reinforcement is contingent upon what the subject chooses as evidenced by the behaviorally discernibly several(predicate) response.Within the realm of behaviorism, one key contributor and voluminous icon of psychology in general is Thorndike. As a function of his experiments with cats in boxes for which they had to coif some specific behavior to escape, he concluded that learning was a process of an incremental nature and that their was became a neural link between the excitant and response. This was evidenced by his successive experiments in which the cats became smarter, that is, they learned what specific behavior was required in order to be released. As the number of trials progressed, there was an contrary relationship with the time needed to escape.The work of Skinner furthered the science of behaviorism by his greater elucidation of the quaternity broad categories of reinforcementApplication of a positive arousal Com monly referred to as a reward, this involves the presentation of something the subject desires.Removal of a positive remark An example of this for children would be time-out. theoretically and often in globe, this method is useful to extinguish unwanted behaviors. In fact, according to Skinner, the most effective commission to eliminate a behavior is to ignore it, thus removing any external reinforcement.Application of a negative stimulus Typically referred to as punishment, this involves the natural covering of an unwanted or noxious stimulus to shape behavior.Removal of a negative stimulus This is the be the restoration of normal conditions upon cessation of an undesirable action or commission of some want behavior. A parenting example would be the removal of a grounded condition upon acceptable repentance of some past action.In addition Skinner identified other type of reinforcer that he labeled a general reinforcer due to its wide applic cleverness. Money is one such ite m and is so labeled because subjects desire it regardless of their state of depravity. This is in contrast to food which is not an adequate stimulus unless one is hungry, that is deprived of food.Another theorist, Guthrie provides yet additional acumen into the theories and methods of learning. One of his key contributions to the field is with his Law of Continuity. In this, Guthrie proposes eloquently that, a combination of stimuli which has been accompanied by movement will on its comeback tend to be followed by that movement in other words, an action in a given situation will likely be reiterate when the subject finds themselves in a similar situation.The Cognitive ApproachWhile there is the well-known debate of nature versus nuture that runs throughout science, such polarity as well exists within the field of psychology and learning. A pure behaviorist would insist that so-called choices are really nothing more than an animal-like actions in all behavior is reducible to stim ulus and response type mechanisms. As behaviorism has significantly added to our understanding of the human condition, there exist alternative perspectives that are also kinda useful. One such branch of the more cognitive division of psychology is referred to a Gestalt psychology.From this perspective, the insight that the brain is not the passive recipient of stimulus but actively involved in the perception and construction of reality is posited. Further, Gestalt psychologists attest that a given stimulus exists not in isolation but in the total context of the perception of the subject. For example, Wertheimer, the father of Gestalt psychology, cited the example of two blinking lights being able to present the perception of apparent motion. This as well as the popular psychology examples in which a sure line has the appearance of being longer than another depending on the lines and figures around it speaks to the tenet of Gestalt psychology that an pose as a whole, is greater t han the sum of the individual parts that make it up. From these and other example, the idea that the mind is able to shape its own perspective of reality by virtue of its own beliefs about how things should be or how they are desired to be is a major enduring contribution of the Gestalt movement.Though not a cognitivist, Piagets contribution to learning could arguably be filed in this area. Particularly noted for his contributions to increaseal psychology and thus much appropriate for child rather than adult learning, Piaget declared the existence of fairly defined period of development. During these periods, a child was able to learn specific skills and acquire certain abilities with not being able to achieve certain others due to the maturation and innate abilities that of a developing brain. For example, the period of approximately seven to twelve years sure-enough(a) is referred to as the concrete operations period. During this range, reasoning and problem solving abilities ar e generally limited to concrete phenomena that can be seen and observed rather than con in nature.Observational or Social LearningThough cognitive in nature, these theories have been treated separately due to both their easy cleverness by more pure cognitive perspectives and by the distinctness of the contributions of the key theorists. Up to this point, the models of learning that have been postulated, whether behaviorist or cognitive, have been focused on the subject only. Moving somewhat further away from the clean and pure perspective of behaviorism, social learning theory attests that the focus must extend beyond the subject to the contextual influence on others. In describing the views of social learning, some of the most controversial and informative experiments in modern psychology have be conducted. For example, Banduras famed prison experiment in which subjects were put into a mock prison with some subjects assigned to be guards succession others were simply prisoners. The experiment was terminated early due some of the subjects taking their roles a bit too seriously.In another classic experiment, children were shown a film screening an adult acting aggressively by hitting a doll or shown an adult being kind to a doll. These same children later pattern the demonstrate behavior, whether aggressive or not. Such findings are reinforced by LeBons work on crowd psychology in which individuals and groups are influenced by others to model or imitate certain implicit behaviors.Implications on Health Well-BeingAnimals, depending on the species, have a number of unlearned, innate behavioral responses to certain stimuli. Examples such as sea turtles that automatically head toward the sea upon birth on a sandy beach to dogs that seek the warmth and scent of their mothers while they cannot see after birth abound in literature. On the other hand, humans seem to come into the world as a blank slating to be written upon by lifes experiences. It is this aspec t of humanity that makes learning play such a pivotal role in our development and beyond.Further, after even a short perusal of the various schools of thought, it becomes apparent that the human animal is complex enough to warrant the consideration and application of all perspectives. By doing so, it is possible not only achieve specific learning goals but also to achieve the avoidance of certain other issues that may occur from situations in which learning does not occur. One such example of this is the child who is raised with excessive punishments to shape behavior. According Skinner and other behaviorists, this can create a maladapted adult who has emotional issues. These emotional issues may manifest themselves in any manner of behaviors such as avoidance of others or difficulties in relationships to, at the extreme, sociopaths who act out their frustrations upon others.From a cognitive perspective, much of the therapeutic approach of this school is in bringing the cognitive e rrors that a person commits to their conscious awareness. These errors in thinking occur when a person creates false assumptions or acts utilizing illogical conclusions in choosing their responses to stimuli. Extreme but common examples are those who express feelings of being a total disappointment and consider suicide. In most cases, such errors are much more subtle but just as insidious with regards to their ability to alter behavior.Clearly, learning plays not just a role in the development of humans but is an on passing game factor in the success of nonchalant living. Psychologists, human resource specialists, trainers and managers and supervisors of any business are vitally concerned about learning in the workplace. As the business world grows more sophisticated, tonic skills are needed. These new skills must be taught, learned and successfully applied for the mutual success of the individual and the enterprise. As such, lessons from all three perspectives are quite an rele vant. By utilizing key components of each perspective and theorist, one can gain a flexible paradigm by which there is greater understanding and application to additional circumstances. It is with this goal of greater applicability that a number of specific contributions are outlined belowThorndike on EducationThorndike had much to say in regards to educational process and the efficacy of teaching methods and styles. This insight is relevant regardless of the age of the learner.Consider the situation the student faces.Consider the response the wish to tie in with this situation.Form the bond.All else equal, from no bond that will have to be broken.All else equal, from as few bonds as possible.All else equal, form bonds in the way they are required to act later.Favor the situations and responses that naturally occur in life (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, p. 72).The bond that Thorndike refers to is the previously mentioned neural bond that exists between the stimulus and the response. T hough these recommendations contain a number of Thorndikes behavioral precepts, a key learning for typical occupational settings is the last advisement. Reminiscent of the idea that if one is going to train for a five-kilometer road race, it is at some point necessary to train by running reinforces the point that training for a specific undertaking should, as much as possible for effective learning, resemble the task itself.Skinner on punishmentJust as Thorndike lectured on educational process, the iconic behaviorist Skinner advises in regards to punishment. This topic is perhaps most salient to child-rearing, an occupation in which there exists considerable frustration that might be at least slightly abated by the application of a learning theory. From a behaviorist standpoint, punishment is the application of a negative or undesired stimulus in order to shape behavior. While commonly utilized, Skinner cautions that punishmentCauses unfortunate emotional byproductsIndicates what a n organism should not do rather than what it should do.Justifies inflicting pain on others.Being in a situation where previously punished behavior could be engaged in without being punished may excuse a child to do so.Punishment inflicts aggression toward the punishing agent and others.Punishment often replaces one undesirable response with another (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 92-94).Guthrie on breaking habits as well a behaviorist, Guthrie addressed the issue of habits. From a behavioral perspective, habits are simply a specific response to a large number of stimuli in which the greater the number of the stimuli, the greater the strength of the habit. As habits can be a significant annoyance and possibly quite mal adaptational, insight into their extinguishment is valuable. According to Guthrie, the following four methods are useful and validThreshold Method In this method, the technique of warming up to an idea is utilized rather than the sudden presentation of the stimulus in order to attenuate the response.Fatigue This method demonstrates the futility of a response to gain the desired results but simply letting a subject give birth themselves out when a stimulus is presented.Incompatible Response Method This method relies upon the pairing of a stimulus which generates an unacceptable response with a stimulus in which the response is not compatible with the unacceptable response. Such action has the effect of lessening the ability of the former stimulus to evoke and undesirable response. Though this is a behavioral percept, it has the net effect of forcing the subject to cognitively rethink the pairing and its meaning.Sidetracking This method is one in which a habit in not so much eliminated as simply avoided. By removing the stimulation, one can effectively sidetrack the response (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 220-224).Wertheimers Facts versus PrinciplesAccording to Wertheimer, the father of Gestalt psychology, real learning occurs not by the simp le recitation of facts but rather by the understanding of underlying principles. As apt illustration of this idea is the following exampleA school inspector who was impressed by the children he had observed but wanted to ask one more question before departing.How many hairs does a horse have? he asked.Much to the amazement of both the inspector and the teacher, a nine-year old male child raised his hand and declarationed, 3,571,962.How do you know that your answer is correct? asked the inspector.If you do not believe me, answered the boy, count them yourself.The inspector broke into laughter and vowed to tell the story to his colleagues when eh returned to Vienna. When the inspector returned the following year for his annual visit, the teacher asked him how his colleagues responded to the story. Disappointedly, the inspector said, I wanted very much to tell the story but I couldnt. For the life of me, I couldnt remember how many hairs the boy said the horse had. (Hergenhahn and Ol son 2005, p. 281).Enough said.Piagets Learning depends on failureThough we generally judge the success of learning by achievement, the noted developmental psychologist Piaget suggests that perhaps this should be reconsidered to some extent. Specifically, Piaget indicated that learning occurs only when the dilemma of not learning or a failure to learn is present. To elaborate, the inability or failure of previous learning to account for a given set of circumstances makes it possible for new situations to be assimilated and accommodated, thus providing the raw material for learning to occur. authoritative to this assimilation and accommodation, or learning process is the ability of the teacher to gradually challenge rather than overwhelm the individual ((Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 302-303).Bandura Human Monkeys are DifferentIn early behaviorist experiments, animal subjects did not look at other animals to learn adaptive strategies. While more recent experiments have indeed demonst rated this phenomena, is was the failure of these early experiments that led Bandura to postulate model learning.In this system, Bandura explained and predicted human behavior by such as means that the stimulus was simultaneously ingrained and external to the subject. This is, to some extent, a cognitive behavioral approach and aptly illustrates the importance of positive role models and the influence that others can have upon learning and behavior. evidenceHuman learning simply cannot be fully understood by the use of a single perspective. It is not that any one paradigm is unseasonable but rather each is only a partial representation of the range and diversity of the human condition. By availing oneself of multiple perspectives, one becomes the beneficiary of significantly more vast knowledge by which life, through work-, school- or home-life can be improved through the application of numerous principles and precepts designed to foster adaptive responses to the stimulation life b rings.Works ConsultedHergenhahn, B. and M. Olson. (2005). An Introduction to the Theories of Learning, 7th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US Pearson Prentice-Hall.Le Bon, G. (1914). The Crowd A Study of the Popular Mind. capital of the United Kingdom T.F. Unwin.

Cathedral Essay -- essays papers

Cathedral I wasnt enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being dim bothered me (99) the narrator tells us in Raymond Carvers Cathedral. An old friend of the narrators wife, Robert, is coming to visit them at their home. The narrator is not at all pleased with this situation and lets us know it from the beginning. Throughout the story, the narrator begins to see the blind patch in a different light and his mind-set begins to change to admiration.The narrator seems to be somewhat jealous at first of the relationship between his wife and their visitor. He says, She told him everything, or it seemed to me (100). His wife had worked for the blind earth for one summer ten years ago, yet she continued to communicate with him via tapes. The narrator must have felt some sort of envy towards the mankind who knew more about his wifes life than he, her husband did.Not ever having met or personally known anyone who was blind (102) left the narrator at a loss a s to how this man was going to behave or what they could do or talk about. He had read and heard things about the blind but Robert turned out to be none of these. The narrator thought dark glasses were a must for the blind (102) but Robert wore none. He had in any case heard blind men could not smoke because they could not see the smoke they exhaled but this blind man smoked his cigarette down to the nubbin and hence lit another one (103).Slowly, the narrator becomes interested by how the blind man carries himself and his abilities despite his handicap. During the meal the three were having, the narrator remarks, I watched with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the meat (103). After dinner, when they sit down to talk and hav... ...and had nothing in common except for the wife.A lot changes though and they come to share a lot more. When we begin the story, the narrator is shown as ignorant towards blind people. He does not know what to express or how to react to this s trange man who does not act much like the narrators one-sided ideas of how a blind man should be. Robert is quaint and the narrator soon starts to realize this. He begins admiring the capabilities that are more or less like his own. When they finish the picture of the cathedral, the narrator keeps his eyes closed. The blind man had given him a piece of himself and what it meant to be blind. In the end, they both give each other a special gift. The narrator gives the blind man a mental picture he can take with him about the way a cathedral looks to him. The blind man gives the narrator the gift of understanding and enlightenment.

A Room With A View by Edward Morgan Forster Essay -- EM Forster A Roo

The Subtle HeroineA Room with a View, by Edward Morgan Forster, presents the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young woman belonging to slope high society. Foster places this young maiden in a state of conflict between the snobbery of her class, the suitable and traditional views and advice offered by various family members and friends, and her true kernels desire. This conflict forces Lucy Honeychurch to choose between convention and passion (Bantam Intro-back c over), and throws her into a state of internal struggle, as she must sift through the elements of her social conditioning and acknowledge them from her true emotions and desires. Foster develops and utilizes Lucys internal struggle as a means of transforming her from a petty young woman to a subtle heroine.Lucy Honeychurch is introduced to the contributor as a somewhat petty young woman, obviously ignorant to the ways of the world, who is being chaperoned by her cousin, Charlotte Barlett, while vacationing in Italy. Numerous conversations over matters of dress, the acceptability of various pieces of furniture, and others vacations, suggest the snobbish nature of both Lucy and Charlotte. In fact, matters of convention encompass Lucys life until George Emersons caddish, hitherto never the less passionate, display of affection in the bed of violets throws her into an internal struggle of transformation. Georges powerful advice, Courage and love (p.66), uttered just in the first place he kisses Lucy, gives ...